When Murder Pierces Through The Heart
by Enigma Dragon Warrior
Summary: After the Teku and Metal Maniacs locate Vert, a murderer kills the racers one by one. Lani, out of desperation, confesses her love to Vert with shocking results! Rated M for Mature for strong language and graphic violence.


**Disclaimer:**I do not own Acceleracers. If I did, it would continue after that series.

**Note:**This is my first Acceleracers story, my first M Rated story, and my first one-shot in general. I'm still new to this site so I'm having a lot of firsts. Before anybody asks, I did base this off And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie in a way, but this is mainly inspired by Codette's Zombie Island by The Kobold Necromancer.

**Rating Note:** This story is rated M for Mature, though this is okay for anyone fourteen and over. Swearing is going to get really bad and there will be blood and gore (though not described in vivid detail).

**Pairings:**The main pairing in this fic is Vert/Lani, because that's how I roll. The side pairing will be Taro/Karma, because I support that pairing also.

Let's see what drama unfolds…

* * *

**When Murder Pierces Through The Heart**

Ever since the Acceledrome was destroyed, the Teku, Metal Maniacs, Lani, and Dr. Tezla have been searching for Vert. They managed to decorate the bus they stole from the Drones with their own vivid colors and details and recreate the cars the lost in the effort to save Wylde.

One person that was particularly upset about the fact that Vert was missing was Lani. The female mechanic had always had a secret crush on blonde haired surf rat, unbeknownst to the other drivers. She always felt like they had a strong connection ever since they were on the Wave Rippers together, and they bonded in the final effort to annihilate the drones once and for all.

Monkey was driving the truck with Sparky in the front seat. They noticed a small figure in the desert, and out of curiosity and concern, drove towards the figure.

Once he closed in on the figure, he noticed that the person in question was blonde. Feeling a source of joy, he stepped out of the truck and saw Vert Wheeler standing silently in the open field.

"Hey guys," the maniac mechanic called out, "I found Vert!"

Nolo, Kurt, Shirako, and Karma emerged from the truck to greet their lost teammate. Soon after that, the Metal Maniacs and Dr. Tezla came out to see the surf rat.

"Vert," Nolo greeted, "what happened when you escaped?"

"The Silencerzcaptured me." he shrugged nonchalantly, "My father let me leave their headquarters though, but I got grounded for a month."

"Why are you here then?" Monkey asked him.

As a response, Vert took out a screwdriver and started twirling it. "Never underestimate a surf rat."

Lani was the last to come out from the truck. When she saw Vert alive and well, the female mechanic could not help but run over and embrace him.

Verthad a feeling of shock and a sense of comfort he couldn't identify after reuniting withLani. "Glad to see you too." the surf rat said with a warm smile.

When Lani realized what was going on, she quickly let go of Vert and blushed, rubbing her hand through her ponytail.

"No use standing around here." Dr. Tezla added, "Let's go to my mansion to celebrate!"

* * *

The reunited twelve frolicked, ate, and chatted with Vert as the surf rat told them stories about what had happened. Even Dr. Tezla, the most unlikely of people, seemed to have a great time.

Lani seemed to have the best time out of anybody, withthe feeling of being reunited with Vert, along with everyone getting along and having a good time for once, relieved Lani greatly.

Shirako did as he would usually do, just chill out on the couch and listen to the music pumping from the stereo.

Porkchop and Monkey did as they would usually do, chowing down on roast chicken and sausages like pigs.

Wylde did not do what he usually did however, contemplate on the mistakes he made. He vividly recalled how his competitive nature cost him his arm and almost his free will, and how Kurt redeemed his mistakes by coming to save him from the Drones Headquarters. The younger brother removed his prosthesis, exposing a stubby scar across his shoulder.

"How could it have come to this?" he whispered to himself, "Why was I so foolish?"

"It's okay, Markie." a voice called out. That particular voice belonged to Kurt, who was standing in the doorway to the bathroom his brother was in.

"It was my fault," the older Wylde told the younger one, "I should have never been the way I was during the World Race."

The two sighed in unison and walked back to the dining room together.

Meanwhile, Taro was watching the night sky with a scowl plastered across his face. He noticed a ravenhaired beauty approach him from the corner of his eye, but he ignored the feeling.

"Why so melancholy?" Karma asked him from behind.

"Nothing," Taro answered without turning around, "just watching the night sky."

"You really are hard to talk to, aren't you?" Karma replied with a humored but calm tone.

"I'm just not in the mood," the asianreplied with a sigh, "just thinking about something."

"About what?" the calm ravenhair asked him while smirking.

Taro's eyes grew to the size of watermelons as he tried to think of a lie.

"About my home in Japan." he blurted out, wondering if Karma would question him about it.

"Okay then," she calmly answered, then walked away.

Taro was still awestruck, pondering if she was playing mind games with him or if she really does feel for her. Either way, he knew that she was perceptive and he had to open up to her eventually.

Tork was working on Hollowback, he thought if Nolo had truly forgave him because the Teku and The Metal Maniacs were still two very sepearte factions. Nolo happened to walk by at this moment, and wondered about the same thing.

"You need help, dude?" Nolo offered while handing him a wrench.

The Metal Maniac leader nodded and took the wrench from him.

"Whoever thought the Teku and the Maniacs would ever unite?" Tork thought as he screwed in a couple of bolts onto his tires.

"Yeah," the Teku leader agreed, "now we're practically like family."

The two shared a laugh as the continued to work on their cars together.

Dr. Tezla went up to his room to do some research, while Lani went back to the living room to find everyone watching Sparky dance.

"Hello, hello, Sparky!" the robot chuckled as he continued to dance.

The female mechanic giggled as she watched the robot. She went over and sat on the middle of the couch between Vert and Shirako.

The Asian tech wizard also watched Sparky dancing while blaring the music up to the highest volume, much to the annoyance of Porkchop. The surf rat on the other hand was working on a small gadget, when Lani approached him, he quickly hid the gadget from her.

"What are you working on?" Lani asked him.

"Nothing," Vert nervously chuckled, "Just a surprise for later on."

The female mechanic rubbed her arm shyly, trying to think of a conversation.

"So..." she started, "It was really nice getting to know you and all."

"Thanks," Vert replied, "Same for you."

Lani started to blush a bubblegum pink, she had never gotten the opportunity to talk to Vert like this before.

"I'm thinking about something..." she meekly told him, now knowing it was the time, "I think I love..."

Lani couldn't finish what she was going to say, for the electricity went out thanks to Shirako's music. She then heard a roar of anger in the pitch black.

"That fucking Teku blew a fuse with that goddamn music of his!" Porkchop bellowed, "Let's kill him!!"

"Easy Porkchop," Tork told him, "Anybody have a flashlight on them?"

Lani, Monkey, and Nolo handed him their flashlights, then Tork placed each one in the kitchen, the dining room and the bathroom.

"I gotta go," Monkey told the Metal Maniac leader, "and by go, I mean really go!"

Torksighed and opened the bathroom door for him and returned to the dining room with the others, Vert followed not much later after that.

* * *

The next five minutes after that were pretty uneventful as the ten people and the robot read some books and magazines together.

Meanwhile, Monkey was pulling his pants down when he heard a squeak in the door.

"Get the hell away, pervert," the mechanic yelled, "I'm trying to use the bathroom!"

A shadowed figure entered the room, splashing kerosene on Monkey.

_"You lust after Lani for your desire,"_ the figure chanted before he struck Monkey down and lit a match, _"but now it's the time to bask in the fire._"

Monkey's bloodcurdling screams of pain alerted the ten people and the robot. They all rushed to the bathroom to see what had taken place. Monkey emerged from the bathroom being cremated alive. Lani and Porkchop ran to get a fire extinguisher while everyone else was shouting at Monkey to Stop, Drop, and Roll. It was too late as Monkey's incinerated corpse collapsed in front of the group.

Lani and Porkchop came back with a fire extinguisher in hand, they dropped it in shock when they saw Monkey's skeleton with some flesh still on it. Porkchop got down on his knees to inspect the corpse, still rather hot from the fire.

"Poor, poor Monkey Man." the truck driver lamented sadly.

"Is there a murderer around..." Lani began, but she tripped on the carpet and the door to Dr. Tezla's room was swung open.

"Holy shit..." she said in a horrified whisper.

The ten people and the robot entered Dr. Tezla'sroom to find the doctor in question hanged and with his stomach sliced open, his entrails spilled out onto thee floor.

"Jesus Christ..." Lani whimpered, plastered to the wall in fear.

Vert clenched his fists and welled up in anger, grabbing Sparky by the arm.

"That fucker is gonna get it!" he vowed, "I'll kill him at any costs, come on Sparky!"

"Uh Oh." the robot whimpered.

Lani bolted towards him and embraced him from behind. "Please don't go!" she pleaded, "You'll be killed!"

"I'm sorry Lani," the surf rat told her, "but I must do this."

He managed to shake her off, throwing her to the ground. Lani managed to get on all fours and shed a single tear. Karma also got down to her knees and started to confort the mechanic.

"He'll be alright," Karma assured, "trust me."

Tork helped Lani up, and gathered the other eight remaining people in a circle.

"There's obviously a killer in this house, and we're an easy target in a group." Tork explained to them, "We need to split up."

The Metal Maniac leader grabbed the three flashlights and continued.

"Porkchop, Kurt, and Wylde, go call 911." Taro instructed.

The three nodded and head down the dark hallway with their flashlight.

"Nolo," Tork asked, "can you take Karma and Shirako and find Vert?"

"I'm on it." Nolo told Tork as he shaked his hand.

"Lani and Taro, you're with me." the Metal Maniac leader told them, "I'll explain everything else later."

"Are you sure about this?" Lani asked, hesitant that she had to work with her ex-boyfriend.

Torknodded to the both of them as they proceeded down the hallway.

* * *

**Nolo, Karma, and Shirako**

The three Tekumembers lurked down the eerie hallway, with Nolo in charge of the flashlight.

"What does that bastard think he's doing?!" Nolo exclaimed, "He's going to get killed!!"

Karma quickly put a hand over the Teku leader's mouth, her finger placed over her lips.

"Keep it down to a dull roar." Karma instructed him, "We could get discovered at any moment."

They both saw Shirako still jamming to the music from his headphones, unaware of their arguement.

"That means you, Shirako." the ravenhair told him.

"Cool." the tech wizard responded as he lowered the volume of his headphones.

The three continued down the hallway to look for the surf rat.

* * *

**Tork, Taro, and Lani**

Tork actually did a satisfactory job of leading the former couple towards the exit. The three stopped for a minute to rest by the doorway.

"We found the exit, all we have to do is to find shelter in one of the other homes." he explained to them.

"What good would that do?" Taro asked him, "The killer will just invade the other homes."

"That's the point," Tork continued, "we have to kill the killer."

"Are you sure he's out there?" Lani asked him.

In response, Tork shattered a glass case containing a rifle. He took it and proceeded towards the door.

"I'll make sure it's safe." he explained to the two, "Stay here and whatever you do, don't go after me."

Torkstepped off the front porch with a flashlight and rifle in tow. He examined the area, and when he was sure it was clear, he walked over to the driveway.

Hollowbackstarted revving up with the headlights blaring at Tork, which of course was driven by the shadowy figure.

_"You killed his brother in a fiery wreck,"_ the figure chanted, _"now it shall lead towards your fiery death."_

Before Tork could react, Hollowback ran straight into him, slicing Tork's stomach open.

Lani and Taro were listening from outside and when they heard his wails of pain, they rushed out to help the leader of the Metal Maniacs.

The former couple found Hollowback engulfed in flames and Tork with his entrails exposed.

"Get... away." were Tork's last words.

"This man truly is a fucking psycho." Taro whispered.

"There's no way the murderer could survive an explosion like that," Lani explained to her ex, "let's find the others and tell them that he died."

"Are you sure Lani?" Taro asked her, "You're not exactly trustworthy."

"And you're," his ex girlfriend retorted, dabbing her finger into his chest, "not exactly easy to talk to!"

Taro stood there, mouth agape, stunned. He sighed and asked Lani to sit down on the porch with him.

"I know I'm not easy to talk to, people tell me that a lot." the asian explained to her, "But I do want to save everyone that's still alive and get out of here."

"You know," Lani told him, "you're a lot easier to talk to now."

They both smiled at each other and headed back into the house to save everyone.

* * *

**Nolo, Karma, and Shirako**

The three still had no luck in finding Vert, it almost seemed as if he was trying to avoid them. Nolo threw his hands up indignantly and sighed.

"The murderer probably got the shithead by now." Nolo groaned, "Let's just get out of here and see if everyone else is okay."

"If he was, we would have found him by now." Karma explained to him, noticing a cord being plugged into Shirako's headphones by a shadowy hand.

"Shirako, what's tha..."

A deafening soundwave played into Shirako's headphones, causing him to scream in pain and try to take the headphones off._"You listen to music all through the day," _a voice chanted, _"even though it'll hurt you anyway."_No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get them off. Karma took a closer glance at the headphones and noticed they were glued to his head. The ravenhair proceeded to help Shirako pull off his headphones.

"Nolo," Karma called out, "come over here and help me!"

The three tried to get the headphones off the asian'shead and now his ears were bleeding. He continued to shriek and convulse in pain with the headphones firmly attached to his head, blood dripping down the side of his head. When Nolo and Karma couldn't pull the headphones off, Shirako's head spontaneously combusted, the gore from his head being splattered on the two remaining Teku members.

"Shit," Nolo trembled, sliding down the wall, "there really is a murderer in this house, isn't there?"

"Look," Karma pointed out as she picked up Shirako's headphones, "the cord extends over there!"

"Good," Nolo said, instantly relieved, "we'll follow the cord to the murderer and, BAM, we got him!"

The two followed the cord for a while until they reached a door which led to Tezla's garden.

"We've got him cornered," Nolo whispered as he proceeded to enter the garden, "now to get him!"

"Wait, Nolo! It could be a tra..." Karma called out, but the door slammed in front of her.

Now Nolo was the one cornered, he tried to search for an exit, but he failed.

_"You have a hatred for who killed your brother,"_ a voice chanted from the loudspeaker, _"everyone else has a hatred, because I shall kill another!"_

A wrench struck him across the face, busting his head wide open. He was soon hit by other stones that were thrown at him, and now he was bleeding from various parts of the body. When a stone hit him in the groin, he squeaked in pain before falling to his knees.

Once he collapsed to the ground, a couple of guns emerged from the ground and shot the Tekuleader to death.

After the door to the garden opened once again, Karma walked in and noticed Nolo's corpse on the ground.

"Nolo?" she whimpered. Karma realized that now she was alone. She gasped and started to run blindly to find the nearest exit.

* * *

**Porkchop, Kurt, and Wylde**

These three frantically searched around every nook and cranny of the mansion looking for a phone, but they still couldn't find one. Eventually, they found a door leading to the pool. They entered that door and above them, they found a snapped phone line and a phone on a table by the pool.

"Porkchop," Kurt instructed, "can you stand guard while Markie and I try to attach the cable?"

"Porkchop 'aint afraid of nothin'!" he cried out, "I'll do it!"

As Kurt and Wylde exited the area, Porkchop stood guard attentively at poolside. Once he turned his back on the door, a shadowy figure kicked him into the pool and closed the cover shot. Porkchopmade obvious indents made into the pool cover and gasped, wailed, and thrashed beneath the pool cover.

_"Water has always been your greatest fear,"_ the figure chanted,_ "in this water, you will soon die here."_

The figure left the scene as Porkchopwas trapped underneath the pool, drowning as he knew it. Once he tore through the pool cover, his arm stuck out, but was soon rendered lifeless as his heart stopped and he drowned to the bottom of the pool.

* * *

**Kurt and Wylde**

"Do you think Porkchop died by now?" Kurt asked his brother.

"Dunno," Wylde admitted, "probably fought that douche bag off by now."

They continued to walk upstairs to the guest quarters, which seemed ancient and rusty.

"Jeez," the older Wylde observed, "you'd think he have the budget for this place."

They found the guest bedroom, which had a window leading to the roof. There they would be able to reattach the broken wire and fix the phone line. Once they got to the top of the roof, they observed the area for Porkchop. What they did find horrified them, there was a hole in the pool cover with a corpse visible.

_"Is your brother the real traitor," _a voice chanted,_ "or will you become one later?_

While they were distracted, a Silencer came up from behind and struck Wyldeon the neck with a metal tube. While the younger Wylde recovered, Kurt tried to defend his brother by fighting off the Silencer.

He didn't notice that there was a second Silencer that stole Wylde'sprosthesis and started battering him with it. As Kurt was starting to gain leverage, he noticed Wyldebeing beaten with his own mechanic arm. He shoved the first Silencer aside and prepared to thwart the second one. The other Silencer continued to beat Wylde with his prosthesis, knocking him towards the edge.

Kurt tackled the Silencer and proceeded to beat him up, but he accidentally pushed the Silencer towards the edge, knocking his own brother off the roof. Wylde continued to fall before he got impaled by the flag pole in the backyard.

Kurt, petrified of what he had just did, sobbed loudly, not caring that the Silencerz were approaching him. When he came back to reality, he mustered all of his anger and round house kicked the two Silencerz in the pool.

When the two perpetrators were out of sight, he payed respects toward his younger brother and walked away.

* * *

**Taro and Lani**

The former couple had no luck finding the rest of their friends. When they were about to give up, Lani became mortified about what she had just found.

"I... is... th... that," she stammered, "Shirako?"

Taro examined the corpse, of which the head exploded and the spine could be clearly visible down the deceased Shirako's throat.

"We must be close," Taro told her while picking up a cord, "let's go."

They followed the cord to the garden, where Nolo'scorpse had been covered with blood.

The calculating asian examined this one as well, and pulled out a few bullets from the Teku leader's dead body. He proceeded to put them in a plastic bag as evidence, and tucked the bag away into his back pocket.

"If Nolo and Shirako are dead," Lani whimpered, "next would be Karma..."

Taro felt his heart pang with sympathy for Lani's concern, pain for all that have died so far, and worry for the woman he knew he truly loved, Karma.

"I'm sorry for everyone that died also," he consoled Lani, "but we have to make sure that no one else falls victim to that killer."

They both nodded in approval and rushed off to find everyone else.

* * *

**Kurt**

Kurt was storming down the hallway looking for the one he wanted to kill. He knew he had to avenge his brother and everyone else killed in the massacre..

"I will kill that motherfucker if it's the last thing I do!" the older Wylde whispered to himself, "I'll rip that faggot's head off and shove it up his ass!"

His tyrade was cut short when he heard a female whimpering and sobbing silently in the bathroom.

"Son of a bitch..." Kurt whimpered, "Karma?"

He opened the door to find Karma lying on the ground with her eyes bloodshot from crying. When he reached out to help her up, she shrieked in terror and slapped his hand away.

"Murderer!!" she screamed, "Get the hell away from me!!!"

"It's okay," Kurt frantically told her, "it's me, Kurt"

"How many people are still alive?" Karma asked in a calmer voice, even though she was still shaking and breathing heavily, "Is Taro still alive?"

"I don't know," the older Wylde admitted, "but Porkchop and Wylde were killed."

"I just want to get out of here alive," the ravenhair said, "and save everyone else."

"We will get out of here alive," Kurt reassured Karma while taking her by the hand, "and kill that killer once and for all!"

* * *

**Taro, Lani, Kurt, and Karma**

Taro and Lani were ran down the west hallway, while Kurt and Karma ran down the east. Once they found each other in the main lobby, a wave of relief spread over them.

The most relieved out of all of them was Karma, who ran over and embraced Taro affectionately.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Karma said in a happy whimper, "I was so worried."

The world was circling for Taro at this point. He felt a warm feeling that he had never felt before, as the woman he loved was actually showing signs of affection towards him.

"I love you too." he shot out. The asian couldn't believe what had escaped his lips as Karma looked up at him with a shocked countenance.

"Y... you love me?" she whimpered, then kissed Taro on the lips and melted into his embrace, "You have no idea how long I have waited to hear you say that to me."

"Um guys," Kurt interupted, "I hate to be the party pooper, but there's a psycho still in this mansion and we still haven't found Vert yet."

"Right." the other three said in unison.

They went over to the kitchen, which was the last area neither of them had inspected yet. Once there, they saw the two Silencerz that Kurt encountered on the roof.

Kurt stepped in front of the others, spreading his arms out protectively. "This is my fight now," he told them, "get out."

"But Kurt," Lani pleaded, "we can't go on without..."

"GET THE FUCK OUT!!!!" was the last thing Kurt screamed before literally kicking the other three out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Bring it on," he told the Silencerz, "give me your best shot."

One Silencer lunged at him, but he managed to throw him off. The other Silencer tried to attack him from behind, but Kurt thwarted that attack as well. The shadowy figure snuck up from behind and sliced his left arm off with a katana blade, making him scream in pain and hold the remaining stub in pain.

_"When you framed your brother, you caused him harm,"_ the figure chanted,_ "you also cost him his right arm."_

The figure decapitated Kurt with the blade, then fled the scene before the remaining three could catch up to him.

* * *

**Taro, Lani, and Karma**

The three remaining people rushed into the kitchen to see if Kurt was all right.

Lani found something that caused her to shriek in terror, Kurt's decapitated head. Karma also found his right arm, and Taro found the rest of the body.

While Lani turned on the light and examined the body, she heard two screams. When she turned around, Taro and Karma had their necks around nooses. The two Silencerz were tiedthe nooses to the counter, strangling the couple with the greatest of ease.

_"Love has bonded these two forever,"_ a voice chanted, _"it would only be fair for them to die together."_

Before Lani could let out a gasp, a figure snatched her from behind and started dragging her down the hallway.

* * *

**Lani, Vert, and Sparky**

Lani was screaming, thrashing, and trying to escape from the kidnapper's clutches. When he took her to the closet, she was greatly shocked to discover Vert and Sparky.

"Shhhh," Vert shushed her, "we should be safe here."

"Vert," she asked, "what are you doing here?"

"I actually encountered the murderer," the surf rat explained to her, "I escaped before I was killed though."

"I'm so happy to here you say that." Lani whispered.

"Why," he asked, "is there anything you would like to say?"

"I do..." she started, "that I..."

"I love you," Lani whimpered, "and I always have."

She kissed the surf rat on the lips affectionately before pulling herself away and sobbing.

Vert turned away from her. At first, Lani thought that he was flustered at her affection, but when he turned around, he had a evil grin on his face and an ominous purple glow in his eyes.

Lani gasped at the sudden revalation, then turned to Sparky whose eyes glowed purple as well. The door shot open and the two Silencerz seized Lani by the arms as she began hyperventilating.

"Don't worry about them," the brainwashed Vert told her, "they're with me."

"What?" the female mechanic asked in a mortified tone.

_"Join us, and you'll see what true power is,"_ Vert chanted, _"refuse us, and you'll be thrown into the abyss."_

Vert laughed maniacally as he lunged at Lani's neck with fanged teeth.

Lani let out a bloodcurdling scream.

* * *

Yes, Vert was the murderer this whole time and I know it's scary. Notice how Vert went to the living room after Tork when the power went out, that was your only clue.

This was the probably the longest thing I've ever written at over 5K words! (partys) If you liked this story, tell others. If not, tell me.

Read and Review, Happy Early Halloween folks!


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